Twister with combination pivotal and vertical movements

ABSTRACT

A twister includes a base unit, a shaft, and a foot support. The shaft extends substantially perpendicularly from the base unit and defines a pivot axis. The foot support is movably mounted to the shaft above the base unit. The foot support may provide one of a single vertical movement, a single pivotal movement, and a combination of vertical and pivotal movement depending upon a user&#39;s exercise on the foot support.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to exercise devices, and, more particularly, to a twister device capable of providing a combination of pivotal and vertical movements.

BACKGROUND

Various types of exercise devices exist to develop different parts of the body. One form of know exercise devices is a twister type device which utilizes a pivoted disk in the form a turntable. The users would step on the disk or turntable and twist at the hips to cause a pivotal movement of the disk or turntable.

This type of twister devices can only provide a single form of movement, i.e. the pivotal movement. It would be desirable if some combination exercise device could be provided which incorporates the benefits of multiple forms of movements, e.g. pivotal as well as vertical movements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, a twister generally includes a base unit, a foot support, a resilient assembly, and a biasing assembly. The foot support may be disposed over the base unit for a pivotal movement about a pivot axis relative to the base unit between a neutral position and left and right extreme positions of the foot support. The resilient assembly may be arranged to resiliently support the foot support to allow for a vertical movement of the foot support. The biasing assembly may be arranged to bias the foot support toward the neutral position during the pivotal movement of the foot support.

In another aspect, a twister generally includes a base unit, a shaft, and a foot support. The shaft extends substantially perpendicularly from the base unit and defines a pivot axis. The foot support may be movably mounted to the shaft above the base unit. The foot support may provide one of a single vertical movement, a single pivotal movement, and a combination of vertical and pivotal movement depending upon a user's exercise on the foot support.

In still another aspect, a twister includes a base unit. A shaft extends substantially perpendicularly from the base unit. A foot support may be pivotably mounted to the shaft for pivoting relative to the base unit. A resilient assembly may be disposed between the base unit and the foot support to resiliently support the foot support. The resilient assembly engages the foot support and the base unit in a manner so as to permit the pivotal movement of the foot support.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of one embodiment of a twister.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the base frame.

FIG. 3 is a perspective, assembled view of the twister of FIG. 1, with the outer cover and foot support panel removed.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is an assembled, cross sectional view of the twister.

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view showing the bearing structure of the twister.

FIG. 7 is an exploded view of another embodiment of the twister.

FIG. 8 is a perspective, assembled view of the twister of FIG. 7, with the outer cover and the foot support panel removed.

FIG. 9 is a side elevation view showing the resilient assembly of the twister of FIG. 7.

FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 are operational views of the resilient assembly of FIG. 9

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Before any embodiments of the invention are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the following drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. When introducing elements of the invention according to the several embodiments, the articles “a”, “an”, “the” and “said” are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements. The terms “comprising”, “including” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements. Moreover, the use of “up” and “down” and variations of these terms is made for convenience, but does not require any particular orientation of the components. Furthermore, “bottom” and “up” as used herein are not meant to limit the scope of the invention. They are relative terms used to indicate relationship of parts within the twister. Unless specified or limited otherwise, the terms “mounted,” “connected,” “supported,” and “coupled” and variations thereof are used broadly and encompass both direct and indirect mountings, connections, supports, and couplings. Further, “connected” and “coupled” are not restricted to physical or mechanical connections or couplings.

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of one embodiment of a twister exercise device, which is designated generally by reference numeral 10. The twister 10 is capable of providing combination pivotal and vertical up-and-down exercise motions. In the illustrated embodiment, the twister 10 generally includes a base unit 12, a foot support 14, a resilient member 16, a biasing assembly 18, and a handle assembly 20.

The base unit 12 is configured to be anchored to or supported by a floor. In the illustrated embodiment, the base unit 12 includes a base frame 22 and a base cover 24 mounted to cover the base frame 22. As illustrated, the base frame 22 has a streamlined outer profile with four protrusions. It is to be understood that this is for the purposes of illustration only and the base frame 22 could be of any suitable shape.

Also referring to FIG. 2, the base frame 22 is generally cross-shaped formed by two support beams 26. Each support beam 26 has two mounting slots 28 defined on opposite sides of the intersection, respectively. Each mounting slot 28 has a narrow portion and a wide portion in communication with each other. The mounting slots 28 are used to mount the biasing assembly 18 as described below.

A shaft 30 extends perpendicularly upward from an intersection of the two support beams 26. The shaft 30 defines a pivot axis along its longitudinal axis.

The foot support 14 is configured to support a user thereon for performing various exercise activities. In the illustrated embodiment, the foot support 14 includes a foot support frame 32 and a foot support panel 34. As illustrated, the foot support frame 32 includes two parallel first support beams 36 and one second support beam 38 traversely connecting the two first support beams 36. A pivot hole 40 is defined through a general middle area of the traverse second support beam 38. With the shaft 30 received into the pivot hole 40, the foot support frame 32 is capable of pivoting about the pivot axis. The foot support panel 34 is fixedly mounted to and thus supported by the foot support frame 32. As the foot support frame 32 is pivotable about the pivot axis, the foot support panel 34 and the entire foot support 14 are thus pivotable about the pivot axis.

The foot support panel 34 can be mounted to the foot support frame 32 in any suitable manner. In the illustrated embodiment, the foot support panel 34 is fastened to the foot support frame 32 with fasteners 42. To this end, the support beams 36, 38 of the foot support frame 32 also define fastening holes 44 therethrough. Although not illustrated, the foot support panel 34 also has corresponding fastening structures. However, this particular mounting manner is for the purposes of illustration only and should not be regarded as limiting.

The foot support panel 34 includes one or more, such as, a pair of side-by-side foot pedal areas 46 formed or provided thereon. Each of the foot pedal areas 46 has a plurality of protrusions 48 extending upwardly therefrom, for engaging with and for massaging the feet of the user. The foot pedal areas 46 and the protrusions 48 are preferably made of rubber or other soft materials, for comfortably engaging with the user.

While the foot support 14 is illustrated as including the discrete foot support frame 32 and foot support panel 34 together, it is noted that the foot support 14 may also be formed as a unitary structure with a foot support frame and a foot support panel integrated together. Therefore, the foot support frame 32 and the foot support panel 34 can be either discrete elements or integrally formed together into a unitary structure.

In the illustrated embodiment, the twister 10 also includes an exercise information generating assembly to provide parameters and information associated with the user exercise activities. The exercise information generating assembly includes a sensor unit 50 mounted on the foot support frame 32 and a display unit 52 provided on the foot support panel 34. The sensor unit 50 operates to sense information associated with the user's exercise activities. The display unit 52 is electrically connected to the sensor unit 50 to display the information sensed by the sensor unit 50. To this end, the parameters or information can be those relating to the weight of the user, the number and/or speed of twist, and/or the number of skips. While the exercise information generating assembly is disposed on the foot support 14 in the illustrated embodiment, it is to be understood that the exercise information generating assembly can be disposed on other parts of the twister 10 in alternative embodiments. For example, at least the display unit 52 could be disposed on a top portion of the handle assembly 20.

Also referring to FIGS. 3 to 5, in the illustrated embodiment, the resilient member 16 includes a spring attached around the shaft 30. The spring 16 is disposed between the base unit 12, in particular, the base frame 22, and the foot support 14, in particular, the foot support frame 32. The resilient member or spring 16 has opposite spring ends 54 and 56 slidable relative to the base frame 22 and foot support frame 32, respectively. Therefore, the resilient member or spring 16 resiliently supports the foot support 14 thereon while permitting the pivotal movement of the foot support 14. A pair of end plates 58 is disposed between the spring end 54 and the base frame 12, and between the spring end 56 and the foot support frame 32, respectively. The end plates 58 limit the position of the resilient member 16. As illustrated, the end plate 58 is circular-shaped. However, it is to be understood that the end plate 58 could be of another shape as long as it can provide the functions illustrated above. In the illustrated embodiment, the end plates 58 are fixed to the foot support frame 32 and the base frame 22, respectively, in any suitable manner, for example, by welding. While the resilient member 16 is implemented as a spring in the illustrated embodiment, it is to be understood that the resilient member 16 could be any suitable resilient structure as long as it can bias the foot support 14 upward or resiliently support the foot support 14. A bearing unit 59 is disposed around the shaft 30 between the spring end 54 and the bottom end plate 58. The bearing unit 59 includes rollers or balls therein to reduce friction during pivot movement of the foot support 14 of the twister 10.

The biasing assembly 18 is connected between the base unit 12 and the foot support 14 to control the pivotal movement of the foot support 14. In the illustrated embodiment, the biasing assembly 18 includes a resistance assembly having a plurality of resistance cords 60 made of, for example, latex. In the specific exemplary embodiment as shown, the number of the resistance cables 60 is four. The plurality of resistance cords 60 are evenly distributed around the shaft 30. The resistance cords 60 are connected to the base unit 12, in particular, the base frame 22, and the foot support 14, in particular, the foot support frame 32 in any suitable manner. In the specific embodiment as shown, each resistance cord 60 has opposite expanded cord ends 62 and 64. As can be best seen from FIG. 3, the resistance cords 60 are inserted into the narrow portions of the respective mounting slots 28, with the expanded ends 62 engaging the base frame 22 around the narrow portions of the mounting slots 28, and plugs 66 are engaged within the wide portions of the mounting slots 28. In this way, the cable cords 62 are secured to the base unit 12, in particular, the base frame 22. By achieving this, each cable 60 is first inserted through the wide portion of a corresponding mounting slot 28 and then slided to the narrow portion, and finally the plug 66 is inserted into the wide portion of the mounting slot 28. The other cord ends 64 may be secured in the same or a different manner.

When a user stands on the foot support 14 to perform a twist exercise, the user generally twists his/her hip side-to-side to result in a side-to-side pivotal movement of the foot support 14 about the pivot axis. During this pivotal movement of the foot support 14, the biasing assembly or resistance assembly 18 applies a resistance force against the pivot movement of the foot support 14 away from a neutral position of the foot support 14. In other words, the biasing assembly 18 is arranged to bias the foot support 14 toward the neutral position of the foot support 14. As used in this disclosure and the appended claims, the term “neutral position” is intended to mean the position as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 where no user applies a twist or pivot force on the foot support 14 or no user stands on the foot support 14 doing an exercise. The side-to-side pivotal movement of the foot support 14 includes the pivotal movement away from the neutral position in a first or clockwise direction, the pivotal movement toward the neutral position in a second or counterclockwise direction, the pivotal movement away from the neutral position in the second or counterclockwise direction, and the pivotal movement toward the neutral position in first or clockwise direction. In other words, the foot support 14 is pivoted away from or toward the neutral position during the pivotal movement of the foot support 14. In this neutral position, as shown in the drawings, the resistance cords 60 are positioned in parallel with each other and with the shaft 40.

Once the foot support 14 is pivoted away from the neutral position either in the clockwise or counterclockwise direction, for example, by a user's twist exercise, the biasing member or resistance assembly 18, through the resistance cords 60 which are stretched, applies a resistance force against such pivotal movement. Therefore, the user needs to overcome this resistance force of the biasing member 18 during the exercise. The pivotal movement of the foot support 14 usually has a left extreme position (e.g. when pivoting in the counterclockwise direction) and a right extreme position (e.g. when pivoting in the clockwise direction) (not shown) to avoid over-twist by the user. The farther the foot support 14 is pivoted away from the neutral position, the more difficult the user would feel to overcome such resistance force. Therefore, the resistance assembly 18 can also be used to define these left and right extreme positions where the resistance force of the resistance assembly 18 increases to a value that the user is not able to overcome.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the twister 10 further includes a resilient outer cover 70. The outer cover 70 is disposed to cover at least a part of the twister 10. In the illustrated embodiment, the outer cover 70 is disposed between the base unit 12 and the foot support 14 to cover elements between the base unit 12 and the foot support 14. The resilient outer cover 70 is deformable in a direction parallel to the pivot axis in compliance with the vertical movement of the foot support 14 along the pivot axis. The resilient outer cover 70 is also mounted to one of the base unit 12 and the foot support 14 but pivotable relative to the other of the base unit 12 and the foot support 14 about the pivot axis in compliance with the pivot movement of the foot support 14 about the pivot axis.

In the illustrated embodiment, the outer cover 70 has a cover body 72 with an upper edge 74 and a lower edge 76. The cover body 72 is in a form of a corrugated hose and is therefore capable of extending or retracting in response to the vertical movement of the foot support 14. The upper edge 74 is movably connected to the foot support frame 32 to permit the pivotal movement of the foot support 14 relative to the outer cover 70. In the illustrated embodiment, the upper edge 74 is mounted to the foot support frame 32 through a bearing structure 77. The bearing structure 77 includes a lower retainer sheet 78, a plurality of balls 79, a ball fixing ring 80, an upper retainer sheet 81, and a retainer ring 82. Also referring to FIG. 6, the lower retainer sheet 78 is fixed to the upper edge 74 of the outer cover 70 in any suitable manner, for example, with self-plugging rivets. The upper retainer sheet 81 is fixed to the foot support frame 32 in any suitable manner. The ball fixing ring 80 has holes receiving the balls 79 therethrough. The combination of the ball fixing ring 80 and the balls 79 are sandwiched between the lower retainer sheet 78 and the upper retainer sheet 81 such that the upper retainer sheet 81 can pivot relative to the lower retainer sheet 78. The retainer ring 82 includes a ring body 83 with first and second retaining portions extending from the ring body 83. The first retaining portion includes a plurality of projections 84 radially and outwardly extending from the ring body 83. The second retaining portion includes a plurality of hooks 85 extending downwardly from the ring body 83. After assembled, the ring body 83 is received within the upper retainer sheet 81, with the first retaining portion (i.e. the projections 84) seated upon an upper surface of the upper retainer sheet 81 and the second retaining portion (i.e. the hooks 85) disposed under the lower retainer sheet 78, thereby retaining the upper retainer sheet 81 and the lower retainer sheet 78 together. The lower edge 76 is mounted to the base unit 12 in a suitable manner, e.g. with flat tapping screws 86 in this illustrated embodiment. However, the lower edge 76 may be mounted to the base unit 12 with snap-fit fasteners in an alternative embodiment described below.

The handle assembly 20 is mounted to the base unit 12. In particular, the handle assembly 20 includes a generally horizontal section extending from the base unit 12 and a generally upright section extending from the horizontal section. Mounted to an underside of a junction of the horizontal section and the upright section is a wheel assembly 87. This wheel assembly 87 facilitates movement of the twister 10. However, in an embodiment not illustrated, a support pad may be mounted to the handle assembly 20 in lieu of the wheel assembly 87. A handle bar 88 is attached to a top of the upright section, for being grasped by a user during an exercise. The specific structure of the handle assembly 20 described herein is for the purposes of illustration only and therefore should not be regarded as limiting. The handle assembly or the handle bar is optional and therefore a twister may not include the handle bar 88 or the entire handle assembly 20 in another embodiment not illustrated.

A pair of resistance bands 90 is attached to the base unit 12. During an exercise, the resistance bands 90 can, among others, increase resistance to the arms to exercise the arms, chest or back muscle of a user. The resistance bands 90 can also be used to help the user keep balance during exercise. As described above, the resilient member 16 resiliently supports the foot support 14 thereon. Therefore, the foot support 14 can be moved up-and-down in a direction parallel to the pivot axis of the shaft 30 by a user performing jumping, skipping or similar exercises.

In the embodiment described above, the foot support 14 can be pivoted relative to the base unit 12 by a user performing a twist exercise. During the pivotal movement, the biasing assembly 16 biases the foot support 14 toward the neutral position of the foot support 14 and defines the left and right extreme positions of the foot support 14. The foot support 14 can also be moved up-and-down by a user performing jumping or similar exercises. The foot support 14 can also be pivoted and moved up-and-down at the same time when the user twists his or her hips or legs and at the same time jumps on the foot support 14. Therefore, the twister 10 can provide a single pivotal movement, a single vertical movement, and a combination of pivotal and vertical movements depending upon the exercise the user performs.

FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate another embodiment of the twister designated by reference numeral 210. In the drawings, like numerals are used to refer to like elements as in the previous embodiment and those elements that are the same as in the previous embodiment are not described herein. The twister 210 of this embodiment is similar to the twister 10 described above except for the addition of a secondary resilient member 216 and the use of snap-fit fasteners 286.

As shown, the twister 210 includes a resilient assembly including the resilient member 16 and the secondary resilient member 216 disposed along the pivot axis. The secondary resilient member 216 is shorter than the resilient member 16. In a specific example illustrated in FIGS. 9 to 11, the resilient member 16 is a 90 KG spring which has an uncompressed length (i.e. the height) of 182 mm and a fully compressed length of 85 mm. When the spring is compressed 80%, the spring length is 104.4 mm. The secondary resilient member 216 is a spring with an uncompressed length of 120 mm. When the spring 16 is compressed to 120 mm, the secondary spring 216 starts to be compressed (FIG. 10). When the spring 16 is compressed to 104.4 mm, the secondary spring 216 is compressed 15.6 mm (FIG. 11) which provides an additional support of 300N. It is to be noted that this specific example is for the purposes of illustration only and should not be regarded as limiting.

The snap-fit fasteners 286 are used to mount the outer cover 70. The use of the snap-fit fasteners 286 facilitates the removal of the outer cover 70. With the outer cover 70 removed, the user can perform maintenance of various internal components of the twister. The user can also replace each spring of the resilient assembly with a suitable one depending upon the weight of the user.

As various changes could be made in the above without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description and shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. 

1. A twister comprising: a base unit; a foot support disposed over the base unit for a pivotal movement about a pivot axis relative to the base unit between a neutral position and left and right extreme positions of the foot support; a resilient assembly arranged to resiliently support the foot support to allow for a vertical movement of the foot support along the pivot axis; and a biasing assembly arranged to bias the foot support toward the neutral position during the pivotal movement of the foot support.
 2. The twister of claim 1, wherein the resilient assembly is resiliently engaged between the base unit and the foot support to thereby resiliently support the foot support.
 3. The twister of claim 1, wherein a shaft defining the pivot axis extends from the base unit, and the foot support is pivotably mounted to a distal end of the shaft.
 4. The twister of claim 3, wherein the resilient assembly includes a spring attached around the shaft, the spring engaged between the base unit and the foot support.
 5. The twister of claim 4, wherein the resilient assembly further includes a secondary spring attached around the shaft, the secondary spring being shorter than the spring.
 6. The twister of claim 1, wherein the biasing assembly includes a plurality of resistance cords connected between the base unit and the foot support.
 7. The twister of claim 6, wherein the resistance cords define each of the left and right extreme positions by providing a resilient resistance force that the user is unable to overcome.
 8. The twister of claim 6, wherein a shaft defining the pivot axis extends from the base unit, the foot support is pivotably mounted to a distal end of the shaft, and the resistance cords are evenly distributed around the shaft.
 9. The twister of claim 1, further comprising a resilient outer cover being deformable in compliance with the vertical movement of the foot support.
 10. The twister of claim 9, wherein the resilient outer cover is fixed to one of the base unit and the foot support but pivotable relative to the other of the base unit and the foot support about the pivot axis.
 11. The twister of claim 10, wherein the outer cover is pivotably mounted to the other of the base unit and the foot support by a bearing structure, the bearing structure includes a first retainer sheet, a plurality of balls, a ball fixing ring, a second retainer sheet, and a retainer ring, the first retainer sheet is fixed to the outer cover, the second retainer sheet is fixed to the other of the base unit and the foot support, the combination of the balls and the ball fixing ring is sandwiched between the first retainer sheet and the second retainer sheet such that the first retainer sheet and the second retainer sheet are pivotable relative to each other, and the retainer ring is assembled to retain the first retainer sheet and the second retainer sheet together.
 12. A twister comprising: a base unit; a shaft extending substantially perpendicularly from the base unit, the shaft defining a pivot axis; and a foot support movably mounted to the shaft above the base unit, the foot support configured to provide one of a single vertical movement, a single pivotal movement, and a combination of vertical and pivotal movement depending upon a user's exercise on the foot support, the vertical movement being along the pivot axis, the pivotal movement being about the pivot axis.
 13. The twister of claim 12, wherein a resilient member is disposed between the foot support and the base unit to resiliently support the foot support.
 14. The twister of claim 13, wherein a secondary resilient member is disposed between the foot support and the base unit to resilient support the foot support, the length of the secondary resilient member being less than the length of the resilient member.
 15. The twister of claim 14, wherein a resistance assembly is disposed between the foot support and the base unit to define left and right extreme positions of the pivotal movement of the foot support by providing a resilient resistance force that the user is unable to overcome.
 16. The twister of claim 12 further comprising at least one resistance band connected to the base unit.
 17. A twister comprising: a base unit; a shaft extending substantially perpendicularly from the base unit; a foot support pivotably mounted to the shaft for pivoting relative to the base unit; and a resilient assembly disposed between the base unit and the foot support to resiliently support the foot support, the resilient member engaging the foot support and the base unit in a manner so as to permit the pivotal movement of the foot support.
 18. The twister of claim 17, wherein the resilient assembly includes a resilient member disposed in parallel with the shaft and resiliently engaged between the base unit and the foot support.
 19. The twister of claim 18, wherein the resilient assembly further includes a secondary resilient member disposed in parallel with the shaft, the length of the secondary resilient member being less than the length of the resilient member and thus configured to be compressed after the resilient member has been compressed a predetermined length by a weight of user.
 20. The twister of claim 19, wherein each of the resilient member and the secondary resilient member is a spring attached around the shaft. 